Natural Impressionism, Guarapari (ES)

No, this is not a Monet painting. It is not even a painting. This is a photograph, taken from a shallow pool on a reef rock. This shallow pool probably does not dry up easily, because there are small water plants growing. I did not observe any tiny fish.
This rock is located in Guarapari, about 50 km south from Vitória, capital of the state of Espírito Santo. Guarapari is the most popular beach resort in Espírito Santo. Many tourists from the neighboring state of Minas Gerais spend their long weekends and holidays there.

Obelisk in the center of Praça Sete de Setembro, BELO HORIZONTE (MG)

Today (June 14, 2012) is 7.5 years ago, when I arrived in Brazil. Since then, I stayed in Belo Horizonte, and made a number of travels to become more acquainted with the beauties of the immense country.

December 14, 2004. I arrived at Pampulha Airport in Belo Horizonte. The end of a long travel, from Amsterdam. One day before, I departed from my hometown Breda (near the Belgian border) to Amsterdam Airport. There was snow that morning, and there were a number of traffic jams on the road to Amsterdam. Therefore, I arrived too late to check in for my scheduled flight to Atlanta. My flight got rescheduled, and I took the next flight to New York. I had to run for the check-in, the passport control, and the boarding. There was a very long queue in front of the passport control in New York. I only had one hour to get my next flight, to Atlanta. I talked with one of the customs, and he guided me along the queue and I was about to be the next to attended by the police officer. I heard some grumbling and whispered curses behind me, but I did not care. Again, I had to run for the boarding protocol. In Atlanta, I had to run again, for my connective flight to São Paulo. In São Paulo, I had to book my domestic flight to Belo Horizonte, and I had to run to the bus stop, where a bus was about to depart from Guarulhos Airport to the smaller Congonhas Airport. This bus trip took almost two hours. One more time, I had to hurry, to get my flight. I sighed with great relief, when I landed in Belo Horizonte. The end of a travel that took one full day…

The Obelisk at Praça Sete was inaugurated at the first centenary of the Brazilian independence, on September 7, 1922. The obelisk, nicknamed ‘pirulito’, is considered as a zero point in Belo Horizonte. Two main avenues – Avenida Afonso Pena (north-south) and Avenida Amazonas (east-west) cross here.

Preguiças River, at ATINS (MA)

Atins is a small coastal village at the border of the immense dune landscape of Lençóis Maranhenses. From Barreirinhas – gateway to the dune landscape – we made a 4-hour boat trip to Atins, on the lazy Preguiças River.
It is not easy to travel on the Preguiças River. Depending on the tide, the river flow changes. High tide means that sea water flows land inward, at low tide the flow inverts to seaward. Therefore, our boat trip back to Barreirinhas only could start at midnight. We enjoyed the day at the beach, and witnessed a breathtaking sunset. At night, we gathered at a pousada and killed the time with chatting. It was full moon that night; therefore, my camera was able to catch some light with prolonged exposure. With some modifications, I was able to obtain quite a clear image of two boats floating on the river. In the moonlight…

Freshwater Lake in Lençóis Maranhenses (MA)

National Park Lençóis Maranhenses is located at about 275 km east from São Luís, capital of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. The immense dune landscape measures no less than 155 thousand hectares. During the raining season, water accumulates in numerous little freshwater lakes, spread over the park. From July, when the raining season is over, water evaporates within a few months. The best time to visit these lakes is between July and September. Most of these lakes contain crystal clear, lukewarm water, ideal for bathing. A minority of these lakes contain plants, and even fish.

The picture is composed of five separate photographs, which were taken with a Canon Powershot A540. The original size of this composition is 4510×1083 pixels. That day, the camera was covered with plastic foil, in order to prevent penetration of fine sand grains. The image had to be corrected for the distortion caused by the plastic.

Ruins of a Fortress at GAIBU BEACH, Cabo de Santo Agostinho (PE)

More than five hundred years ago, according to a number of historical sources, a Spanish expedition commanded by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón arrived at Cabo de Santo Agostinho, on January 26, 1500. Because of the Treaty of Tordesilhas, which divided the then recently discovered American continent into a Spanish and a Portuguese part, Pinzón did not claim the newly discovered land for Spain; he was on presumed Portuguese territory. Only a few months later, on April 21, Pedro Álvares Cabral landed near Porto Seguro and claimed the land for Portugal.
Not only the Spaniards and the Portuguese were interested in Brazil, but also powerful nations as England, France and Holland. The Dutch have possessed the northeast of Brazil for about 25 years. In order to defend their colony against hostile invaders, the Portuguese constructed a number of fortresses and batteries, at strategic locations. Among then Forte São Francisco Xavier de Gaibu, constructed in 1630.
At present, the ruins may be visited near Gaibu Beach, one of the three well-known paradisaical beaches in Cabo de Santo Agostinho